Did Johnson get subbed tactically or due to injury?

I get your point. Right wing is a problem position. All I'm saying is the following are clear first team players who have and will continue to play every game when fit : Walton, Cunningham, Williams, Lenihan, Bennett, Johnson, Travis, Downing, Dack. It only leaves 2 players in the team where we are figuring out who will play but you are right that weve tried a lot of players on right wing and up front. But essentially it's a pretty settled team. Probably more so than the last few yearsm Only one of those settled players I really have a problem with is Bennett. One key issue for me is we are totally dependent on Dack. If he gets marked out of the game we struggle, but we don't really have a plan B, and we can't take him off because he scores goals.

This is what worries me most - our defence has been solid, but to suddenly concede like that suggests maybe we aren't out of the woods.

In the League we've consistently played the same team and formation with the only variation being whether Graham plays or not.

I'm assuming that he will move up front. I think that is Tony's plan ultimately. That said I think he can make 10 goals a season from wide right one he, Downing, Armstrong and Dack click.

Bloody hell he looks like he's about 70 does old TM!

Thought I'd give this a bump as he's had a few games to bed in. Looking promising. While he has improvement areas he always offers a threat. Also unlike a lot of players where it's quite hard to pin down what they need to do to be a success, Gally is pretty straightforward. Work on his knockdowns and get in the box and finish. If he does that he's going to be a big player for us. Both are solvable things that can be trained. He's got a combination of pace, strength and aerial ability which is pretty rare. I was skeptical when he first joined but I'm pretty sure he's going to be a success. Think he's good for 10 goals in the season already but I can see him getting 15-20 if he makes his potential.

It's very true that while Walton looks good if he gets injured it will be an absolute catastrophe.

Reckon your team is right except Armstrong for Graham. We will fancy being able to break on West Brom so his pace will be key. Plus he gets a lot of stick but he consistently creates chances for himself and others. Maybe his finishing and final ball is poor, but others just aren't getting into dangerous positions.

Think the teams pretty sorted for this one - only real change from Cardiff (apart from Cunningham returning at lb)I can think of is if we persist with Graham up top or play Gallagher up front with one of Armstrong/Rothwell/Buckley/JRC/Chapman on the wing (looking a bit congested at winger now!). Think after scoring yesterday Mowbray will fancy putting Gally up top again. Bennett will keep right back. Thinking ahead though - can JRC defend? Could he realistically nail down a long term spot there?

Reckon JRC will get some regular bench time after tonight. Probs biggest loser from his performance is Chapman who skips down the pecking order.

Sounds like we have played well. Need a better backup keeper

Team : https://mobile.twitter.com/Rovers/status/1166406282032689155?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^tweet Surprised Dack starts, would like to see JRC and Chapman.

Reckon we should play a strong team but drop Dack and Graham, and try 2 up top. ----------------------Walton JRC-------Lenihan-----Williams----Cunningham Buckley----Travis-----Johnson-----Rothwell -----------Gallagher-----Armstrong Reckon given the quality of the opposition

Well 1) getting 10 points in the next 15 would keep us well in touch with the tops 6, 2) I would say top six is a pretty daft minimum requirement given the number of good teams in the division and our relative budget.

5 back to back wins would likely put us first? Is that the minimum requirement?

Defence is very solid now. Night and day compared to last season. Up front we do have a real problem. We do lack a quality striker and I think it's a given that while Armstrong and Gallagher can make positive contributions to the team it is not going to be a significant numbers of goals or locking down that partnership role with Dack. Breretons a total waste of space and Graham's ageing. Not sure what the next step is to be honest. What we really need is a top class youngish target man for Dack to play off. We've spent 12m and not got that. If Dack was unavailable I would go two up front and see how that worked. But as you can't really drop him I think we'll just keep on trucking and hope something clicks.

Ive come round to Gallagher on the right. I can see the point of it, I think it's been a key part of our wins. Bennett on the other hand is makeshift. However not convinced Nyambe is any better. I would sign a right back if at all possible.

At RB like Bennett and JRC he'd be another non defender at full back. If we bring someone in it should be a proper defender. At RW or LW as we have half a dozen players trying to get in there. I think we'd be better off trying to get Rothwell, Buckley and Chapman into the side than just adding another number.

Not necessarily, we will have the long relief ball into Gallagher on the wing so that opens up a quicker striker to play on the shoulder of the Cardoff Centrebacks. Could be difficult for them.

I was pretty certain Hoilett would progress into the CL. Don't think he really wanted it enough unfortunately, plus maybe I over estimated his quality.

Reckon Bell deserves a shot. Not playing alongside Mulgrew will improve him imo. He actually had some decent games towards the end of last season alongside Williams.

I think in the run in - April and May - it became clear that Williams was a decent centre back. I agree before that it wasn't very clear. But he rarely got a game as Mulgrew was first choice.

I'm not really sure if Gallgher is even really expected to score goals? He got in the box incredibly infrequently. Think we are looking to Dack primarily as our goal scorer, with a few chipped in from other areas in the team, mostly from set plays. Goals are going to be a problem for us. Mulgrew who scored 10 for us has left, and Graham who scored 15 is now on the bench. None of the players who have come in are scorers. I think we will probably do well to score 55 goals this season. For context we scored 64 last year. Top six scored 69 to 93. Though equally on the other hand I think we will concede less - around 50ish this year, down from 69 last year. Probs good enough for around 10th if we hit those numbers. But if Dack gets injured we could really be in the shi**er.

I'd be very surprised if we changed anything except a straight swap of Cunningham for Bell or Hart. Switch to 3 at the back would be very disruptive when the side is just settling down and we don't really have the personnel challenges to justify it. Plus it would mean playing much narrower up top, and I think Tony is wedded to the Gallagher at right wing thing. We've only really radically changed formation before when going through a major injury crisis.